OoC: Okay. out of my depressed funk, so, time for ARRRPEEEEE. But I'm lazy, so lazy post.

Sovelis had quietly gone back into the ballroom, hanging near the edge during the king's toast and the arrival of the hero. Toasts. Parties. Why was he even here? Its not like he was needed. Or missed to any great deal. Maybe one... perhaps two people had missed him any. After this whole thing was said and done, maybe it would be time to move on for good and...

"My good Adventurers," he said with a smile -- though he did not hide the worry in his eyes, "I wonder if you might come and help me out with a matter." Without even looking for a response, he turned and walked over towards the small exit the King had used, pausing only to tell the guards beside to allow the Adventurers to pass.

Curiosity had killed the cat, hell, it killed adventurers by the load. But it got the better of the Tempest, and he followed, ignoring a feeling of impending doom.

Kasei snapped to attention as the dark aura surged around him. He had felt this before...but he knew not where. The fear from earlier, the clawing madness, gripped him again as he scowled. "What in Din's name..."

He watched Artorius come closer, watched the Sage come closer, heard his offer. Kasei had traveled the castle before; he was there when the new renovations were being made fifty years prior, and had learned many of it's secrets. He needed not a guide but...it would be foolish to not go with the Sage; what if some danger befell him? Kasei would not dare abandon the Sage, one of the people he was sworn to protect.

He glanced over to his companions, each was ready to move out. Kasei's eyes met with Xanatos' for a brief moment, and the Rebel Flame understood. He turned around, and followed Artorius as swiftly as he could, cane never touching the ground.

~~~~
That takes care of protecting the sage...

It was apparent, now, that not all was well. As soon as the wave of ill intent washed over the group, the Seven Stars were alert and ready for action.

Xanatos turned to his companions. He doubted the King or the Princess would need protecting now; they were with Link after all, and he was far more dangerous than the Stars combined. However, he would rather be safe than sorry. "I'll go to ensure his highness' safety." He said authoritatively, "The rest of you, fan out. It's most likely that there are enemies within the castle already. Eliminate them if you find any. Move!" He barked, and then hurried off in the direction of the Hero's room.

He rounded the corner to the room moments later, spotting the Princess and several guards. "You're highness!" He called out, as the guards stepped forward to block his way. "No, wait! My name is Xanatos, one of the Seven Stars. We've not met but, you must trust me. You might be in danger, my Princess." He pleaded, hoping the Princess would understand. It is unlikely the King would have told Zelda about the Seven Stars; they were not something she should be troubled with; but Xanatos prayed that her ignorance to their existence would not compromise precious time, time he could be using to protect her.

~~~~

Anna; slim, agile. Alfiey; tall, swift. Gor Gigan; large, powerful. Silva; beautiful, dangerous. The child was small, but was the most menacing of the group. They split off in several directions, moving through crowds and corridors; they would search any part of the castle for the wayward threat they all now perceived. Unlike before, they no longer had a need to hide themselves; the group moved in the open, they let their presence become known to the guests and the staff and, hopefully, to anyone lurking the the shadows. If this would not deter them, perhaps it would, in some way, smoke them out of their hiding place.

They would not allow any danger to threaten the Kingdom again.

OOC: Ok, so now I've assembled everything I need. Hit me with your best shot, Alpha!

Also, hope you don't mind.

OOC: still open for AIM as 'worruson' and skype as 'benjaminriley' or 'beauregardriley' under the display name 'weebeesnargles' and i try to use yahoo messenger but it's very glitchy with me

IC: Worru had watched the Hero and the King walk away, and he couldn't deny that he felt confused and uneasy about the night so far. He took a drink of what he had been given, nervously glancing around at the crowd to see if any one of them had a better grasp of the situation than he did.

The boy looked away from the crowd, and onto the faces of the other adventurers, his young heart hoping for some kind of solace from what he could discern on their faces. It was just his luck that their varied expressions told him that he was not going to like what was coming, and so he took another drink to see if it could calm his nerves. He hadn't adventured for two years and all of this was just a bit much.

When the priest spoke, however, he jumped, his drink splashing out over the tyrian-colored coat he had been wearing. He took the coat off and tried to wipe his face off with the garment, soon tossing the entire coat over his shoulder as he turned to see the priest walking off through the same door that the King and the Hero had used not that long ago.

Worru nodded to no-one in particular and followed, realizing that he probably should've brought a weapon with him that night, instead of coming with little-to-no protection outside of terribly rusty skills. He was nervous, alert but jumpy, and incredibly unaware of his surroundings. All in all, a very, very weak link.

OoC: I...HATE...HAVING...NO INTERNET!!! I have to rewrite my entire post AGAIN!! I know that it's how things work, but I just hate it when I don't have the time to read, let alone write...I'm trying, but writing my story, trying to keep up with HA2, and school are getting to me...

I'll throw something up soon, hopefully...

Orpheous sensed something was a tad off a bit earlier during tonight's festivities. The worry Link, their great hero, was exhibiting was absolutely terrifying. He was trying to cover up the level of stress he was under, but it wasn't without noticing. Even Simon had detected a fraction of it amongst the Hero's calm disposition. William Jamesworth noticed the presence of this great fear more than anybody else present though, save for, perhaps, the King. And he chuckled lightly, under his breath.

However, what happened next, perhaps Orpheous picked up on the most. When King Harkinian stepped down to greet the Hero, it seemed that the King was trying his best to diplomatically make it seem like Link wasn't worried about anything. This frightened Orpheous even more than the Hero's uneasiness. Orpheous understood though; politics where he was from was very similar. The King couldn't let the Hero cause panic amongst the visiting nobility and guests. However, the fact that the King was to deflect the situation so quickly either meant that he was exceptionally talented, more so than most world leaders Orpheous could name, or that he was exceptionally informed of possible major threats. There was a lot more to worry about than Orpheous had once thought. And this thought was now beginning to set into system, and it would take time to come to terms with.

Time he didn't have. Only a short amount of time after the King's booming laughter vanished from the room, from when he laughed at Link's reaction on seeing an old friend, presumably the princess, Orpheous sensed the wave of dark energy flowing over him. Normally he wouldn't be so accustomed to the dark forces at work, especially if he had never done that in-depth study of the magical workings of this land when he first came here. And now, months into his period of reclusion, he had done a handful of experiments involving similar dark magic. Orpheous had to admit that while he didn't understand the magical wavelengths fully, as that was the point of the experiments - to understand, he could at least recognize it. Simon could sense something, but he didn't have as firm as a grasp on the nature of the burst of energy as Orpheous did.

It wasn't long before Sage Artorius approached the Adventurers. He made his address, and it seemed to Orpheous that the Sage was just as worried as every other key figure tonight. He also realized that the Sage was in a hurry. Orpheous would have suggested taking the time to get into a line formation, something of a military tactic, but it seemed that they had no time for formations. Realizing that Artorius would be leading the group and that was that, the front of the party was made obvious. Realizing most of his comrades were unarmed, Orpheous, in a quick decision decided to stay purposely to the rear of the party as they pursued Artoriusl. He made this decision because he realized that as a frequent reader, he should have very sharp eyes and notice things that were amiss. He also didn't require a tangible weapon to fight any enemies that might approach from behind, as he had spells. He began following the Sage immediately, but at a slower rate than his other comrades, letting himself fall to the back of the group.

Simon Grendel, the apprentice to the Wordmancer, looked to his master for guidance. Orpheous spoke basely to Simon, whispering to him, "Stay between the Sage and I. Be ready to react by granting aid to the group, medical or otherwise." As he continued to proceed, and almost pass through the exit, he remembered that telepathic communication he'd picked up from Alpha what seemed like an eternity ago. He wouldn't speak to Alpha about such messages now, in a time of urgency, but he wanted to let the fellow scholar know that he would be interested in speaking with his comrade once this was over, and not just about the messages either. Such time had passed, perhaps Alpha could share with him knew insights and trade information. Maybe somebody somewhere was planning new adventuring parties to go out and explore the unknown. Would that person be Alpha, who always seemed so distant? Nay, but, if anybody would know about such events, Alpha would.

Thus, he called to the Sheikahn mage, "Nice to see you again, Alpha. Been a while. We should converse sometime, after all of this." Orpheous scoffed at the idea of Alpha, the aloof scholar, taking him up on his offer, but it was worth a shot. And with that, Orpheous was through the doorway following Sage Artorius, albeit still lagging to the back of the group. His eager apprentice rushed ahead of him to find that spot at the center of the group where his abilities and talents as a scribe would be most useful.

Orpheous eyes darted about as he followed behind the group, and he lowered the hood of his dusty cloak, as to not potentially miss vital sounds amongst this palace. He need to be as aware as possible, trying to detect any new developments that might attempt to catch the party off guard [Awareness Check].

---

Miriam Winifred let out a soft sigh that went unnoticed by her date, Naarus. And yet her eyes were fixed on that back exit where the King, the Hero, the Sage, and now the Adventurers were making there way into the heart of the palace. She sighed because of one of the Adventurers, and she wished that she could be alongside the party now, if only to reassure that young man. Alas, she was acting as the arm-candy of a noble guest, and she could, of course, not join the team now going to investigate the burst of dark magic. She mumbled a blessing for the whole of the group, realizing just how dangerous a task may lay ahead. She wanted none of them to encounter such danger, but realized they all, even that one, would come face to face with danger frequently in the trying times ahead.

OOC: Just say the word, RG, and I can easily remove Simon from the investigation party, as I'm now likely to call this group of veteran adventurers in this particular scenario. Sorry about the length again. Still getting caught up with proper formatting and tailoring the lengths. Still needs some work, I realize. If you need me to post stats of either Simon or Orpheous at either point, let me know.

Upon feeling the dark pulse of energy run through her body, Lilly fell faint from reality. Her vision began to blur, and her senses began to fail. Darkin had felt it too- his feathers were standing on end; a primal reflex he had no control over. Lilly fell to the floor, where Taint was quick to catch her in his arms.

"Lilly! What's the matter!?" He cried out as he cradled her in his arms. "Lilly? Lilly!"

Katsuro appeared next to Darkin, "You feel that too?" He asked as he stared in the direction it had come from. Darkin nodded in affirmation, "I'm impressed you were able to feel that, Katsuro. Your magical senses certainly have waxed under Alpha's training haven't they? I'm impressed that you're far enough along to feel a pulse of magical energy like that." The Rito looked down at Lilly, who was narrowly hanging onto her consciousness. "Poor thing. She couldn't handle all of that at once."

Taint looked up at Darkin, his eyes full of confusion and concern. "What? What happened? What's wrong with Lilly?"

Darkin knelt down next them, and placed his hand on her head. He closed his eyes in concentration, and remained still for a few moments. "She'll be fine. She's just sick from that pulse of dark energy. She may lose consciousness, but she'll be alright in the end." He opened his eyes, and got back to his feet.

Taint looked more confused than ever, "What energy?! What are you talking about?"

Darkin's eyes turned in the direction the energy had come from. "Just now, a huge pulse of dark magic swept through the building. There's no doubt in my mind that every single magically inclined person in this room is aware of it right now. You didn't feel it because you've only honed your magic down to the lowest level of elemental burst. Katsuro and I felt it because we're practitioners of the magic arts... But Lilly... Her body is mostly composed of magic. It would be like you being electrocuted underwater."

Taint's face turned to horror as he looked back down at his now unconscious wife.

"Captain, considering you're married to a fairy, I thought you'd know more about them", Katsuro chimed in.

Suddenly, Sage Artorius spoke up next to them,

"My good Adventurers, I wonder if you might come and help me out with a matter."

Darkin nodded, "Absolutely."
Katsuro put his fist in his other hand, "You bet. I'm glad I brought my stuff."

Taint held Lilly solemnly in his arms. He looked up at Artorius, and then to Darkin and Katsuro. "You guys go ahead... I'm gonna hang back here until she wakes up." His tone was low and serious. It almost didn't sound like his voice. Darkin looked concerned at that statement. I don't like it when he gets like this... He thought as he eyed the two. Finally the Rito nodded, "Of course."

Taint nodded at the two of them, "Good luck guys."

With that, the two of them joined up with Sage Artorius, and followed him away.


* * *


What in the hell was that?

The samurai cringed as the energy swept through his body. His first instinct was to dive through the building towards the source of the energy. Right now however, his priority was protecting the King and Princess Zelda. He slipped away from view, and back into the shadows.

He'd be watching everything from there- it was better in every tactical sense now that the hero was present. He closed his eyes, shook his head and smiled.

The Hero, here after all these years... This will be a story to pass down.

The king's words made Arrika feel more out of place than she had all night. Greed and hatred? She was weaned on it. She supposed she had done some good fighting in the South- "good" was a funny word- but in all honesty she had only gone because of Saki, and to hide from Rhyss. Who she later found out had never had any interest in hunting her down after all, so she may as well have left that part of the skirmishes to the fighting types. But she smiled and drank and clapped when it was appropriate- it was fairly amusing, seeing the elite cheer on a criminal- and then watched in awe as the princess appeared. The thief had caught a glimpse of her once, many years ago, and she was just as beautiful as ever.

"Annoucing SIR LINK, THE HERO!"

From all corners of the room, Arrika's, Seth's, Rhyss', and Mirielle's jaws dropped.

"Something must have happened," Arrika whispered to Alpha. The Hero had been away for a long time, or so she had heard. What would make him come back, and so suddenly?

By the buffet table, Seth cursed. Rhyss was a great storyteller and had held him captivated with many legends about the hero when he was younger, but all of the commotion only made it harder to find Netta.

Rhyss was growing more unnerved; Netta was nowhere to be found, and the arrival of Link hinted at trouble beyond his control.

Mirielle, however, merely looked the Hero up and down in unconcealed appreciation. "He's aged well," she said, licking her lips.

***

Amongst the commotion, something dark pulsed across Arrika's senses.

"What was that?" Seth said, appearing by her side, as it seemed that the public honoring by the King was over. His eyes narrowed as he took in her face, then Alpha's, then the way she was standing beside him. But bratty remarks could wait.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Arrika said, referring to Seth's more refined Senses.

"Blind, remember? That includes Deaf and Dumb. No telepathy either, not with that harridan roaming about."

Arrika was unaware of Netta poisoning Seth's water, but did not press the issue, assuming he was still tipsy and raving.

"Then how'd you sense there was anything to begin with?"

"I've got a dozen Adventurers all reacting to something invisible at the same time. Doesn't take Sight to work that one out."

"My good Adventurers," he said with a smile -- though he did not hide the worry in his eyes, "I wonder if you might come and help me out with a matter." Without even looking for a response, he turned and walked over towards the small exit the King had used, pausing only to tell the guards beside to allow the Adventurers to pass.

"I'd better go," she said, looking to Seth uncertainly.

"I'm coming with you," he said immediately.

"Are you an Adventurer now?" She raised an eyebrow.

"King's standards are a bit foggy on that one."

The thieves chuckled, both having found the toast fairly laughable.

Seth followed Arrika and Artorius. Netta could be skulking through the castle, after all, and Mirielle and Rhyss were enough to keep an eye on the ballroom.

"Oh, Alpha...?" he called sweetly. "You've got something on your..." He made a wiping gesture at his mouth, for remnants of Arrika's lipstick had left the corner of Alpha's lips a noticeable shade of red.

Darkness. A wave of malevolent energy flew past Alpha and overwhelmed his senses for a moment, more than long enough to identify it as a twisted aura he was quite familiar with. 'Ganon...' Surely the beast was not here himself, but one of his agents...and not one of the Assassins -- they would never be so foolish to release such black radiance for all to feel. Once the wave had passed and Alpha had recovered from the sudden shock, he cast his gaze across the room in search for the Assassins. Or rather, he stretched out with his senses in search of the same void spaces Serul had given off.

He found the four spaces quickly enough -- all present and accounted for in the room; that confirmed that they were not the source of this wave. Alpha's gaze flew from one to another until he managed to catch the gaze of one's: Ulfer. 'Oh, I bet he's not too pleased to see me seeing him...'

Wraith.

He forced a smile, curt though it was. At least the man was still on talking terms...for now. Hello, Infernus. You're looking well. He glanced to the side, in the direction the darkness had emanated from. Are you going to investigate, or am I?

And then Artorius was there.

"My good Adventurers, I wonder if you might come and help me out with a matter."

Guess that means me, he sent back, a bit annoyed by the smirk that on Ulfer's face...and on Serul's. In fact all of the Assassins seemed to be focusing on him now, no doubt thanks to Ulfer. Good nightmare... He fell into step behind Artorius with the other Adventurers and tried to forget about it, though he couldn't shake the look Serul had been giving...

A sly smirk. That look always meant something bad...

"Nice to see you again, Alpha. Been a while. We should converse sometime, after all of this."

Orpheous's comment somewhat jarred the Sheikah from his state of worry. He shook his thoughts away...well, tried to... He shook his thoughts to the side. "I suppose we could," he said with a shrug, unsure of what Orpheous would want to discuss. Or why, for that matter. The pair had rarely conversed in the past...for some reason, he'd always tried to avoid the Scribe... Oh. Wait. Right.

The man was way too verbose.

"Oh, Alpha...?" Seth called sweetly. "You've got something on your..."

Alpha glanced in Seth's direction and arched an eyebrow at him; he didn't know the man, hadn't even traveled or fought alongside him before. At the very least, Orpheous had that in his favor. But now this boy wanted to chat with him as well? 'This is why I've enjoyed the past few months of solitude...'

Nevertheless, he brushed his lips with his sleeve, and spied the area becoming a tinge more red as a result. Hm. Okay then.

He shrugged and continued on, still trying to forget that look on Serul's face...

OOC: Kasei, Orpheous, you guys are fine.

IC:
As per the elderly sage's instructions, the Adventurers were all permitted to pass into the inner parts of the castle without question. Now on the other side, away from the crowds and nobles, Artorius let his calm facade dissolve in favor of a determined concern. He did not wait for the Adventurers, but instead took off down the hall with a speed few would have ever expected for one his age -- the man was halfway to the next intersection by the time the last Adventurer made it through the door. Yet even then, there wasn't a sense of 'fear' about him so much as 'confusion'.

The route he led them along went a good bit beyond the beaten path, filled with twists and turns down numerous hallways and several staircases -- each time descending further down, until at last they left the ornately decorated halls behind in favor of modest stone floors and walls. Judging by the temperature, a pervasive chill that swept over them despite numerous furnaces and fire pits set along the walls, and the complete absence of windows, it was reasonable to conclude that they were underground now.

Artorius did not slow until he rounded one last corner -- and found the sight before him. "Goddesses!"

Two guards lay collapsed just outside a massive doorway stuck at the end of the hall. Once he'd regained himself, Artorius sped forward and knelt beside them, placing a hand on each one's neck. "Dead," he muttered darkly as his hand came away from the first's body, fingers tinged red by the blood of a severed artery. The second, however, elicited a small sigh of relief. "Just unconscious."

Having taken in the situation, he turned back to the Adventurers, glad that they had managed to keep up with him. "This," he said, motioning toward the doorway they stood beside, "is the Royal Vault. All manner of rare and valuable artifacts are kept inside, obtained by the Royal Family from ancestry, gifts, or conquest. A few thousand pieces, all in all. Normally," his voice turned from historian to battleworn, "these doors cannot even be opened, as a dozen magical seals guard it against anyone outside the Royal bloodline." He walked forward and gave the door a shove; it opened without so much as a creak. "Obviously, they have somehow been dispelled.

"That said," he quickly continued as he led them inside, to a room with all manner of jewels and adornments, weapons of ancient times, a few piles of gold scattered about, and cabinets lining the walls to hold other trinkets safe and sound, "I doubt that whoever came here managed to dispel the tracking spells placed on each and every artifact, or jewel, or coin within this room." He eyed Arrika and Seth in particular. "And I doubt you could either -- not even you, Alpha, could do that for even a single piece. The spells placed on them date back beyond the age of the Hero of Time, and are incredibly powerful. So nobody get any 'bright ideas' about taking anything." He 'hmphed' and gestured towards the artifacts.

"With that said, if we can figure out what, if anything, was taken from here, I can use this--" he grabbed a special-looking cane from next to the inside of the door, "--to track it down. Might also find something to indicate who our intruder was, too..." He waved them towards the rest of the room while he opened the doors completely. "You lot take care of that; I'll see what I can do for our surviving victim."

He knelt down by the guard and let his fingers turn white with magic while the Adventurers got started.


Objective: Investigate the Royal Vault

The boy had largely ignored what the sage had been saying to the group, instead looking around in amazement at the artifacts and treasures that filled the royal vault. While it was possibly the biggest collection in the greater Hyrule Kingdom, and undoubtedly had powerful relics and weapons under its guard, he wasn't even thinking of lifting any one of the items. Not even a little bit.

Worru rubbed at his eyes for a moment, before glancing around at the room, in an effort to see what all had really gone on. Using every ounce of deductive skill he had gathered through his years of adventuring, the boy realized a few things; something had broken through the door, killed a guard, and knocked out the other. It was a good starting point, and he felt he could work with what was given.

However, one thing bothered him about it all to this point, and it was present all around him. Most of the artifacts and treasures didn't seem to have been moved, and he had heard something about them being enchanted with all sorts of security measures. He was certain that the other adventurers felt the same kind of worry, and realized that it would be best if he tried to actually do something helpful, and it then dawned on him that he did actually have skills from his ranger training.

The boy studied the floor, looking from around the doorway to where the group was all standing, trying to make out everyone's individual set of shoe- and footprints. He had considered that whoever came in through the door may have already left, and that whoever had gone through may have never even touched the ground during their run through the vault. Worru was even starting to think that maybe it was multiple people, but was only trying to focus on seeing if they had left behind any [Tracks LV1], for now. It would be a step in the right direction, if he could say so himself.

OOC: i'm not sure if this was stated anywhere, but is this event entirely RP or is it still stat-based? track doesn't require any SP so i'd say i'm safe either way, but it would help for clarification.
Alpha edit: For now it shouldn't matter too much; we're not fighting anyone here. When it comes time for a fight, we'll discuss it; at this time don't worry about stats.

The group followed Artorius through several turns and corners. The air chilled noticeably as they descended into the infrastructure of the castle.

"Katsuro", Darkin spoke as they hurriedly pursued the sage. "You spent a lot of time with your dad and his affiliates. Did you recognize that energy at all?" They rounded another corner.

"Don't you think I'd have said something already?" The boy shot back, keeping pace with the Rito. "I'm as curious as you right now," he added as they reached the end of the hall, and rounded one final corner.

"Goddesses!"

Two heaps of armor and weaponry lay in front of a large door. The group rushed forward as Artorius checked for signs of life.

"Dead."

Katsuro gritted his teeth and drew his weapon. The Phantom Blade, which he'd climbed Death Mountain to procure from the two Godsmiths, shined brightly in an otherwise dark setting. A legendary weapon that was said to have been forged for one of the heroes past.

Darkin knelt next to Sage Artorius and surveyed the second soldier.

"Just unconscious."

They had arrived at the same conclusion at nearly the same time. He looked at the sage, and his eyes conveyed his sorrow. "Artorius... If we can bring this man to consciousness..." Artorius seemed to be on the same page.

After addressing the adventurers, he made their mission clear to them.

"With that said, if we can figure out what, if anything, was taken from here, I can use this to track it down. Might also find something to indicate who our intruder was, too...

"You lot take care of that; I'll see what I can do for our surviving victim."

It was a solid plan. Darkin turned and walked towards Sage Artorius. "Katsuro," he called back to the boy, "I'll lend Sage Artorius a hand with the unconscious soldier. I know a thing or two about restoration magic, and two minds are better than one. You use what your father taught you to see if you can't find some evidence."

Katsuro made a face. He agreed, but he still didn't like being told what to do. "Alright, fine. But only because I agree." He shot back at the Rito before putting his talents to work. He smirked. It ain't just what my dad taught me that will get me through this.

He held his sword parallel to the ground, and focused his energy into it. The sword had a special capability that might prove handy here.

I haven't mastered it yet... But I have to try.

The blade held the ability to seek out traces of dark energy- part of what made the weapon so good at slaying phantoms, demons, and spirits alike. If at all the blade could pick up traces of energy left behind, it would likely lead him along the path that the perpetrator took- and in turn, right to wherever the item had been taken from.

"Okay." He stated as he closed his eyes and poured his energy into the weapon.

I can feel it... I can feel it... trying to work...

[Awareness Check]
[+3 Will]

OOC: ZV, how come you get the cool stuff?

IC:

Boy, never a dull day, is there?

Kasei eyed both the guards, blood coated the one. The Rebel Flame examined him for a moment, and grimaced. The guard bore a dull expression, there was a twinge of pain in his jaw, his eyes, but they were well beyond relaxed. The man was likely dead before he knew he as attacked."This one...I don't think he saw his assailant coming. The same might be true for the other." He said to Artorius.

He walked past the sage into the room, but glanced back at Artorius occasionally, just to be safe. A variety of things could go wrong at any time; and while he was not paranoid, Kasei was not above believing that this situation would quickly go downhill.

With a grip on his cane and an eye to the floor, Kasei paced around the edge of the room, keeping an eye out for an outline of dust; anything moved would be almost instantly given away by a silhouette left behind on whatever it lay against. He knew the others would be pulling out their own tricks in their quest to examine the room, and good, too; the more methods, the likelier chance of them identifying the stolen artifact.

Not long into his search, the Rebel Flame began examining some of the objects that rested therein; he spotted a wooden case, with a glass cover. Inside were several differently - colored medallions, each with a different symbol etched into them. He reached into his coat to grab the piece of power - it would resonate, surely, if these were the sacred sages' medallions - only to remember that he had left the coat back in the ballroom.

That...is terribly unfortunate. Did he need it? No, not exactly, but it would have been helpful here; confirming the identity of these artifacts alone would be a stunning discovery. Kasei could double back; he could run to the ballroom and retrieve his piece, but he thought better of staying here with the sage...and keeping an eye on, in his opinion, the most dangerous individual in the castle.

Alpha...no...Wraith...

OOC: Bah, I'll just go full rp~

OOC: Wow, did this reply take a while to write. Going back to school has taken a lot out of me.

IC: Orpheous noted quickly that the tone in Alpha's reply hinted that the Mage had other things on his mind. On top of that, he remembered Alpha's non-conversational manner. And he had criticized Orpheous on the Gossip Isle Expedition for being too verbose. Perhaps he still thought the same of the scribe. Then the Mage probably didn't have much interest in talking at all.

Orpheous had read many correspondents, books, notes, and diaries. He had a rough guesstimate of what the under corridors of the palace would look like. He had a very good educated guess. And while his guess wasn't perfect, the strangeness he felt had nothing to do with the actual look of the passages. It was the atmosphere. He had no idea going through the corridors like this would leave such an effect. The important mission, the slightly colder air, the sense of danger everywhere. Luckily Orpheous didn't run into any problems on the way to the Royal Vault. And that was a bonus.

Meanwhile, Simon had no idea what any of this would have felt like. First off, the grand gathering of adventurers, nobles, tycoons, diplomats, inventors, and other influential peoples, plus all of the sycophants was astounding. And now this dramatic mission. As he passed through the corridors, he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed and realized that some of the less experienced people of the party might feel the same way. He realized if they were attacked at this point by the talent that Orpheous was afraid of, they would not succeed. Therefore, once he reached the Royal Vault, he felt a sense of release. No ambush, or at least not yet.

When Orpheous saw the dead guard, he couldn't help but muttered under his breath, "Why don't we have a cleric?" Then he heard that the other one was alive. He breathed a sigh of relief. One less life lost; additionally, and perhaps even more importantly, given the nature of the situation, it meant that they would have a witness. Unfortunately, a life was lost here, and nothing could ever replace that tragedy. Orpheous formed a hand sign and motion that was one he had managed to recall involving a blessing for the Goddesses to look well on an individual. Hopefully his afterlife would be taken care of by something or somebody.

Then Sage Artorius addressed the group again, informing them all to look for clues of where their possible thief may have went. Orpheous strictly remembered that this was yet a confirmed theft. Perhaps they had come up on the thief and he was now hiding somewhere. Perhaps he had a timeline and couldn't find what he needed within that time limit, and therefore, fled, which Orpheous thought to the most likely. The third was that he had never attempted to steal anything, and this was either an ambush or a distraction. Whatever the reasoning, Orpheous realized the the attacker, or possibly attackers, had needed speed. Why? They failed to kill a witness. That meant one of two things. They couldn't afford the time or they had attempted to get away long before the witness could be questioned. In both cases, it showed that the attacker (s) had planned the break in. This burglary wasn't done impulsively, not that it probably would have, but it's always best to knock out your options. Secondly, it pointed to the fact that they probably expected they would have a limited time to accomplish all their goals. At least that's what Orpheous thought. So they were probably expecting their break in to be noticed relatively quickly after it had been enacted. Simon's gears were turning in his own head, but nowhere near as fast as his master's. His master had already jumped to several conclusions, and was actually having trouble deciding what to investigate first.

Looking through all the items would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It would much easier to look for disturbances in the room. But they only needed to find what item may have been taken to track the thief. But what if the thief hadn't taken anything; maybe they never had the chance or maybe they never intended to. So, with all the items in the vault, it could be possible to hide there. Maybe the thief never left, in which case, tracking them trying to use a spell wouldn't be necessary. Orpheous found it unlikely that the thief would have stayed and hid, but, in the event that he did, it would be best to deduce if they were in the vault, otherwise they were liable for the burglar to either ambush them or get around them and escape. So much to do.

Track would have been Orpheous' starting point. He would have began looking for footprints. Sure footprints on stone floors would be hard to spot, but maybe if they left an imprint on a layer of dust buildup... Then he remembered, the cut artery. Blood would have gotten everywhere. Even if the attacker had used a melee weapon from behind, he would have had to go out of his way to try to avoid the blood. Maybe the were lucky and their attackers got some on their shoes/feet. Orpheous whispered to Worru as he stood around the same vicinity, "Look for blood imprints left by feet or shoes during your search. Might prove fruitful."

Then Orpheous turned to his apprentice, Simon the scribe. "Simon, listen to me carefully. Artorius is focusing all his efforts on recuperating the unconscious guard and possible witness, so I never got a good report on that dead guard. I have a sinking suspicion that the guards weren't attacked via magic. A mage powerful enough to disturb these seals and break them would have had no trouble casting a spell like lightning or elemental explosion, if not some other type of similar spells. In the event, the damage would likely kill both guards. Not fatally kill one and knock out the other. That being said, there is also the cut wound on that artery, I rarely see magic that cuts like that, and it's definitely not something that available to the masses. While a talented mage might had learned something like that, why not use something simpler to kill both guards. No, I think that wound might be from a physical weapon. Investigate it, please." As Orpheous finished, Simon nodded, understanding Orpheous' reasoning. Orpheous smiled at the apprentice able to think something through even in a situation like this. Then he turned away and continued to think himself.

Orpheous realized that Artorius said that while the seals were active, only the Royal Family could enter. What did that mean? What would happen if somebody who didn't have royal blood tried to enter? Did the Royal Family ever disengage the spells to let people in to the vault. Those people probably weren't just anybody, but there would be more of such people than one would realize. With all these items, they must be cataloged. Did they expect the King to catalog all of the items? And yet, the King probably had the items cataloged. Perhaps by the official court scribe. There was too many to not catalog. Then there might have been other important diplomats, or very good friends of the Royal Family. Perhaps even some cleaning maintenance team. Definitely didn't seem like there was much dust in the vault. The items must been cleaned, otherwise they would deteriorate over time down here. The potential thief must have realized the item he was looking for was in the vault. Otherwise, why risk breaking into such a high security position? That meant that the potential thief had inside knowledge, more than likely.

If there was a written catalog, that was the most likely source of information. Secondly, one must suspect non-Hyrulean visitors to the vault, after all, maybe this was espionage. Thirdly, one must suspect that perhaps the cleaning team had sold out information. Fourthly, the court scribe. The fifth possibility was minor royalty who had maybe sold the information or possibly staging a coup, but Orpheous didn't know if there even was minor royalty, he never did properly investigate the royal lineage. And then there was the impossible sixth option, the King and his immediate family. He would have to look into these five options, the sixth being impossible. He also secretly hoped there was a catalog, it might be useful in determining what could be missing. Of course, he could also ask somebody who would know what the top ten high profile items of the vault were. Nothing else short of the highest of profile items would cause somebody to break into the palace and then the vault on a night like this. Orpheous had to admit, the party was a great distraction, but to think there wouldn't be heightened security because of the party was an unthinkable reality.

He'd have to ask the guard at some point if he ever saw anybody enter the vault before tonight that wasn't of the Royal Family. And he would have to ask Sage Artorius if he knew anything about the items in the vault, as in what high profile items were kept in the great Royal Vault. But both of those things must come later. As mentioned previous, Orpheous had read many a document. He knew that Royal Vaults often had secret passages that led out of the vault. Clearly, the burglar came through the main entrance; what if he take a different route out. He wanted to call out to Artorius, to ask the sage, Hey, do you know if this vault has any secret passages out? But then the remembered the Sage was busy. He began to look over the room, using his insight to try to deduce where a secret passage might be if there was one [insight check].

Simon Grendel in the meanwhile walked over the guards body and knelt by it, getting as close as he could to the guard as needed, but not disturbing the sanctity of the recently deceased. He investigated the wound and attempted to determine if indeed the wound was made with magic or by means of a physical weapon. There would be several ways to tell. Looking for traces of magical residue, or perhaps looking for inconsistency that wouldn't be present in the event of a magically clean cut. Inconsistency that shows up only when strength of force fluctuates only lightly or a weathered weapon is used. Simon was certain it was possible to determine the nature of the wound, and he was certain the nature of the wound would be revealed [insight check].

OOC: Again, another long post. I'm sorry, I just wanted to talk about some of my logical steps that I thought about when I first read the break in. Having read far more detective fiction and historical detective non-fictions than I have, Orpheous would know much much more about me about using logic to step through these things. And he'd employ it as he does here. Also, does anybody know, is Zelda's mother, the would-be Queen of Hyrule, still alive? And secondly, is there an extended Royal Family? Also, if you need me to post the INT stats for Simon and Orpheous, RG, I can.

OoC: Just gonna say Leth's been here but in the background. He's not a very sociable guy. [/lame_excuse]

IC: Still somewhat irked and simultaneously stunned by Link's sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance, Leth quietly followed the group, taking up his usual spot in the party at the rear. He kept a wary eye, being sure to be constantly studying his surroundings - he wanted to be sure he knew how to get back through the Castle. It wouldn't do to get lost. Leth also knew that it wouldn't hurt to be a little over-cautious in this situation - that subtle wave of dark energy certainly did not bode well, and he couldn't but help feel that it was in some way tied to the urgent matter Link had arrived to tell the King about.

...Link!
The Hero himself was among them! The very idol of Leth's childhood and inspiration for his wanderings since his youth was at that exact moment residing within the walls of the castle - indeed, Leth had seen the legend with his own eyes. It was definitely surreal; like myths and tales of old had come to pass tangibly in front of his eyes. The long-lost hero was no longer a story or childhood fantasy, he was alive and well, and indeed seemed to be up to very important business.

And that important business is the only thing that anchored Leth's mind to the situation at hand, for he could not shake the feeling that there was much more going on than any of them suspected. The Hero surely didn't return just to catch up with the royal family.

At that moment, they rounded that last corner and saw the guards laying limp on the floor. Immediately, Leth went into defensive mode, deftly drawing his bow in one hand while the other perched atop the quiver at his side, ready to set arrow to string at a moment's notice.
All thoughts of combat soon vanished from his mind, however, as the Sage began to explain to them the situation at hand. It seemed as though whoever had done this was no longer around - or at least not in the nearby vicinity. He relaxed.

Some may have been phased by the wonder of the treasure around them, but Leth didn't give it a second thought. As the royal family, he expected them to have store rooms full of such treasures, and besides, none of it hardly mattered when put in context of the current predicament.

This was a hunt.

For the first time in years, Leth once again was presented with the opportunity to put his skills he'd learned in the Ranger Corps to the test. This was what he loved. This was his passion. The stealth, the trickery, the tracking - everything about the art of hunting, be it man or beast - he lived for. And here he was, once again in the thick of the hunt.
The game was afoot.

Leth cast his eyes readily around the room, taking in the basic details first. Getting a quick feel of his surroundings. He inhaled slowly, separating the various aromas that lingered in the ancient room. He then took a long, exhaustive look at the floor around them - surely such an old room so long untouched would have a lot of dust collected on the floor. He hoped the trampling of the other adventurers had not disturbed it so much that any hints of the previous intruder had been erased. He examined everything he set his eyes to with excruciating detail, not wanting a single thing to escape his gaze. [Track Lv. 1]

Sabertache cast his eyes about the room. Of course something dreadful would happen tonight; it was almost comforting. A sense of familiarity began to creep into the mercenary's chest, and the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. Maybe there was something he had been missing after all. This was why he had returned to Hyrule.

Well, no. No it wasn't. But it was a nice enough thought.

Anyway, they had Link now. This country had its hero again. He had never known Link while growing up, but it stood to reason that for a land so badly devastated over the last several years to still praise this man, he must truly have been something spectacular. Maybe someday, Sabertache would pursue that thread further. Maybe he could learn something from the beleaguered Hero.

Or maybe, he could just focus on getting this job done first. His eyes roved the floors, looking for creases in the ground, a suspicious lack of dust, anything that would suggest that a long-standing arrangement had been changed prior to the group's arrival. [Nomadic Awareness}